TITLE
Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft a resolution in opposition to the Recall Election of the Governor of California.
DISCUSSION
The State of California has scheduled the Gubernatorial Recall Election for Tuesday, September 14th. The California Department of Finance estimates the recall election will cost state and county election officials $276 million to administer. The costs are much higher than previous recall elections because every voter in the state will receive a vote- by-mail ballot, in addition to options to vote in-person.
Over the past year and a half California has faced unprecedented challenges. The state continues to grapple with the economic and social ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. As new variants arise, the future of the pandemic remains uncertain. In the face of this global crisis, it is irresponsible for the state and counties to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a politically motivated recall election.
During this pandemic, California adopted the biggest economic recovery package in the state’s history. The money being used on the recall election could have been better utilized to strengthen that recovery package, by assisting people with rent relief, unemployment, and covering healthcare costs, or by addressing some of the state’s ongoing issues such as homelessness, wildfires, or infrastructure.
Since 1911, when California began approving recalls, 179 recall attempts have been made against state officeholders, and every governor since 1960 has faced as least one. Recall elections have become highly politicized, used as a tool to undermine the will of the people and remove someone from office who was fairly elected by a majority of voters, rather than as a tool to remove someone who is unfit for office.
The recall ballot will have two questions:
1. Should the elected official be removed from office?
2. If the official is removed, who should take their place?
If more than 50% of voters answer “yes” to the first question on the recall ballot, the candidate who wins the most votes in the second question will become governor. This means if a majority of California voters want to recall the governor, he will be removed from office and replaced with someone who will likely receive less than 50% of the vote. This process undermines our democracy and perpetuates a dangerous precedent of electing a governor with a potentially very small percentage of the vote.
The next regularly scheduled gubernatorial election in California will take place on June 7 (primary) and November 8 (general) in 2022. The fiscally responsible and democratically appropriate course of action would have been for the governor’s opponents to wait for the 2022 election cycle to vote for an alternative candidate.
Similar resolutions are under consideration in many other cities across Los Angeles County, including in the cities of West Hollywood and Culver City.
Although cities cannot take positions in candidate elections, the recall is a ballot measure, not a candidate election. It is within the City’s legal rights to take a position on a ballot measure that will impact our residents.
Statement of Urgency
Due to mail-in ballots for the recall election being issued the weekend of August 14th, urgency is requested for this item
FISCAL IMPACT
No Financial Management review was able to be conducted due to the urgency and time sensitivity of this item.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
REX RICHARDSON
VICE MAYOR, NINTH DISTRICT
MARY ZENDEJAS
COUNCILWOMAN, FIRST DISTRICT
CINDY ALLEN
COUNCILWOMAN, SECOND DISTRICT
SUELY SARO
COUNCILWOMAN, SIXTH DISTRICT